Attack
by Blue Seidr
Summary: Leo, despite his nickname, is not fearless. Brave, absolutely. Fearless, nope, definitely not. This is the story of one of Leo's oldest fears. Takes the place of Leo's kidnapped scene in Follow the Leader, you know, where he's stuck in that cage. Please read and review! Horrible at summaries, good writer, or so I'm told.


**Hey, second story of the night! Wahoo! Summary says all I need to, I hope. Please enjoy and drop me a line on how it was!**

Attack

The bars of the cage were pushing in on him. He could feel it. The small space seemed to be getting smaller with every second that passed. Leo's old fear had reared its ugly head once more.

He tried to ignore the panicky signals his mind was sending, tried to focus on Karai below him and what she was saying. He couldn't have an attack here, not now.

It didn't work. The bars loomed ever closer, closing in on his already cramped body. His breath became ragged and panicked. He had to get out. He needed to get out. He was going to die if he had to stay here a second longer.

Karai paused in the middle of her speech. "What are you doing?" He didn't answer at first, pushing against the bars, fighting a force only he could feel. Leo was strong, but not even he could break the bars. His hysterical breathing got louder.

"Yo Leo! Snap out of it! What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Let me out." He said in a strained whisper.

"What?"

"Let me out!" He yelled, pushing against the bars with his feet and shell. "Let me out of this death trap!"

"Death trap?" Karai puzzled aloud, bewildered by his choice of words, before going back to her oh-so-charming self. "And let you escape and lose my bait for your rodent master? Not a chance! Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Let me out! Please!" Leo screamed, yanking and rattling on the cage around him. "Tie me to a chair, chain me to a post, I don't care! Just get me out of this cage!"

He was trembling. He couldn't take it. He felt like he was suffocating, even with the gaps between the bars. His head was aching from the pressure. He was being squashed. He needed to get out of this cramped tomb, but he couldn't find a way to escape. He drew back and huddled in a ball, hugging his feet and bowing his head.

"Please." He whispered, close to tears. He was going to die, suffocate and be crushed. "I don't want to die." He whispered hysterically.

Karai stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face. Then she drew a dagger and tossed it overhead at the rope suspending Leo's cage from the ceiling. The rope snapped and the cage fell down to the floor, smashing open. Leo tumbled out of the twisted metal and onto the floor. He took in sweet gasps of free air and stretched out his limbs, reveling in the space.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" He rasped while starting to get a grip on his fear. He looked up at Karai standing over him and swallowed. "Thank you." He said more calmly, sitting up.

"You're welcome. Consider it an extreme act of kindness as my prisoner." She snapped. "Foot bots. Chain him to yourselves. Do not let him escape."

The Foot bots made affirmative bodies and two stepped forward. They held up their arms and chains flew out, lassoing around Leo's wrists. The bots then deployed spikes on the bottoms of their feet. They weren't going anywhere anytime soon, and neither was Leo as long as he was chained to them.

"Now talk. What happened to you?" Karai barked.

Leo sighed. "For as long as I can remember, I've had claustrophobia, a fear of being stuck in small, cramped spaces. When I get stuck in one, I have panic attacks. I feel like I'm being squashed or suffacated or both. I feel like I'm going to die. Being stuck in that cage triggered an attack. That's why I was so hysterical and desperate to get out. I was having an attack."

Karai blinked, unsure how to process this information. "Oh." She simply said. "But you could see the outside, though."

Leo shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I was cramped and stuck in a small space with no way out. Seeing the outside doesn't make a difference. I freak out either way."

A Foot bot stepped into the room, killing any further conversation. He made hand gestures Leo didn't recognize, but Karai seemed to understand them perfectly.

"Excellent." She smirk, resembling a wolf spotting its prey. "Your brothers are on your way to rescue you. Time for phase two."

"Karai, please, don't -"

"Silence! I will get my revenge. Hamato Yoshi killed my mother and now I'm returning the favor."

"No he would never - "

"I said silence. Gag him." Karai snapped her fingers and pointed at Leo. A Foot bot took a piece of white cloth and tied it around Leo's mouth.

"Now tie him up, nice and snug." She paused, then added, "Wait." She looked down at Leo. "Being tied up wouldn't trigger another attack, would it?"

Leo looked suspiciously at her, then slowly shook his head.

"Good." She snapped her fingers again. "Do it." As she watched her Foot bots at work she muttered in a low voice, "Be glad I am merciful enough to spare you from going through that again."

**So? Good? Bad? You know what to do people! Review! How many times do I have to ask? Review!**

**Oh, and there is a poll on my profile I really want answered. Hint, hint. ;)**

**-Katana**


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